Sunday, November 18, 2007

ABOARD THE DOKDO - A South Korean navy sailor signals to a U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter to land on the flight deck of the South Korean amphibious assault ship ROKS Dokdo Nov. 15, 2007 during the training to increase U.S.-Korean amphibious operational readiness. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christian Lemus

As stability returns, Marines move out of neighborhood

Marines with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6’s motor transportation platoon and engineers platoon, secure the tow bar on a seven-ton truck, which transported the last remaining sandbags previously protecting Patrol Base Stafford, which is now being de-militarized, or “de-milled”, because of Company C Marines tremendous success in this area of Al Anbar, Iraq. The Company C Marines with the Bn., live in patrol bases, which are nothing more than a rented Iraqi houses, re-enforced by the battalion’s Engineer Platoon. Machine gun posts are located on the roof. Razor wire runs along the high, blast proof barriers that surround the home. They are designed to provide absolute safety to the Marines who live and work out of them. But here, they are going away.

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (Nov. 17, 2007) -- Marines with third platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, have dismantled and de-militarized the patrol base that has been their home for months.

The purpose of patrol bases such as these is to bring Marines as far into a troubled community as possible. This enables them to work closely with the Iraqi Security Forces and residents to improve the area and put an end to violence.

Such intimate integration into the neighborhoods has yielded such positive results that they have effectively worked themselves out of a job. The people have taken responsibility for protecting their community. Iraqi Police have developed into an effective law enforcement organization. Now that these landmarks have been reached, it is time to move out of Patrol Base Stafford.

“We’ve been working with the Iraqi Police in the area, making sure they can do their jobs and helping them with anything they need,” said Cpl. Jayson A. Pihajlic, a 21-year-old squad leader and native of Lake Orion, Mich. “At this point they have everything under control and can handle it all themselves.”

Pihajlic, a 2004 Lake Orion High School graduate, said this de-militarization and move from the area is a small example of the end goal for all of Iraq.

“This is just a model of what we, as Marines specifically, are doing over here, and its working,” he said.

“We have built or improved over six patrol bases, which is great, but the ‘de-mil’ is also a positive thing, because this will free up Marines to head to another area and do the same thing,” said the Julesburg, Colo., native who is on his third deployment. “It is also good, because an Iraqi man is getting his house back. The platoon leaving means less military force is needed. You look, and there are less and less Coalition Forces and it’s not us doing all of the work. It’s a joint effort between us, the Iraqi Police and the neighborhood watch.”

Once the Charlie Company Marines move out of Stafford, the platoon will start conducting mounted patrols throughout their area of operation.

“We are now only going to be checking in on the IPs to make sure standards are being met,” said Pihajlic. “That’s the way we are doing it. Once we feel they can operate on their own and the area is secured, we move somewhere else to do the same thing.”

As the de-militarization wrapped up, the owner of the house was standing among the Marines and their equipment. The owner, Ahmed Muhsim, said while temporarily losing use of his property was difficult, it was satisfying being part of the solution to bringing stability to his community.

“I’m very happy because I am coming back to my home, but it is very good that the Marines could use my house,” said Muhsim, a farmer. “At first I didn’t think I would get my house back, but it is very well and good, because this area is safe now because of the Marines. I like that.”

1st Lt. David L. Tran, the officer in charge of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6’s engineer platoon, watches as his Marines carefully lower the wooden side of a machine gun post here at Patrol Base Stafford, which was recently de-militarized, or “de-milled”, because of Company C Marines tremendous success in their area of Al Anbar, Iraq. The patrol base is set amongst the farms, fields and people of Iraq. It allows the Marines to get into the heart of the problems faced in the rural communities, which are the focus of the Bn. The purpose of a patrol base is to bring Marines as far into a troubled community as possible so they can work directly with the Iraqis to improve the area and put an end to violence.

BRIDGING THE EUPHRATESU.S. Army soldiers from the 20th Engineer Brigade build a bridge across the Euphrates River to establish a supply line Nov. 16, 2007, in support of a combat operation near Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Luke Thornberry

Today in History1307 - William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head.1421 - The Zuider Zee floods 72 villages, killing an estimated 10,000 in the Netherlands.1497 - Bartolomeu Dias discovers the Cape of Good Hope.1755 - The worst quake the Massachusetts Bay area has seen strikes Boston; no deaths are reported.1776 - Hessians capture Fort Lee, NJ.1803 - At the Battle of Vertieres, the Haitians defeat the French.1820 - U.S. Navy Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer discovers Antarctica.1883 - Standard time zones are established by railroads in the U.S. and Canada.1889 - The Oahu Railway begins public service in Hawaii.1903 - The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives the U.S. exclusive canal rights in Panama.1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.1909 - The U.S. invades Nicaragua, later overthrowing President Zelaya.1911 - Britain flies its first seaplane.1912 - Albania declares independence from Turkey.1913 - In San Diego, Lincoln Deachey performs the first airplane loop-the-loop.1918 - Latvia declares independence from Russia.1928 - Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse debuts in "Steamboat Willie."1929 - A large quake in the Atlantic breaks the Transatlantic cable in 28 places.1936 - Germany and Italy recognize the Spanish government of Francisco Franco; the main span of the Golden Gate Bridge is joined.1940 - George Matesky - the Mad Bomber - makes his first time-bomb.1943 - Ray Atherton is appointed as the first U.S. ambassador to Canada.1955 - The Bell X-2 rocket plane is taken up for its first powered flight.1960 - The U.S. Copyright Office issues its 10 millionth registration.1961 - The U.S. Ranger-2 is launched to the Moon; it fails.1964 - J. Edgar Hoover describes Martin Luther King, Jr. as a "most notorious liar."1966 - U.S. Roman Catholic bishops do away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.1970 - Russia lands a self-propelled rover on the Moon.1976 - Spain's parliament establishes a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.1985 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) flies from Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport Washington, DC, where it is turned over to the Smithsonian Institution.1990 - Saddam Hussein offers to free an estimated 2,000 men held in Kuwait.1991 - Muslim Shites release hostages Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.